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Coast to coast USA baby!!

a travel blog by Ruck2905


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Escape from Baltimore

Washington, United States

So escaping from Baltimore was priority...it was just sooo quiet, so after filling up on a pancake breakfast we made a break for the train station! It took only 40 minsto get to washington, and as soon as we got into the train station we saw that the station alone is bigger than Baltimore...we made our way to the hostel, which is on the north side (pretty much in the suburbs). Its a strange little place after staying in chains since we got here, this has more character, and you can actually drink in it! We decided to go up to the little suburban town called Silver Spring rather than go downtown as it was already quite late, and had a ganders around there, it was pretty nice and Sunil was satisfied with his pint of harp for less than 3 bucks!! So today we will go and explore now that we have a big city in front of us again, though I'm sure we will be stopping to watch the footy! x

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on October 15, 2008 from Washington, United States
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The Whitehouse, the debate and the hillbilly I forgot!

Washington, United States

Ok so Im gonna start this entry by telling you about the Hillbilly in Baltimore that I forgot to mention! So me Sunil and Chris(an english guy we met in Philly) were just hanging out in the lounge watching baseball when a guy comes down to join us...his first words consisted of 'what are you watching?...baseball?...pfffff'. So this kind of set the tone! We went on to find out that he was trainingfor UFC (this is ultimate fighting champion for those of you who dont know) and had quit his job to stand in line all day to audition for a comedy circuit (where he mentioned jokes about the KKK!). As we talked to him a little while we found that he thought Baltimore was the best city ever and he wasnt gonna vote in the election because there is no choice! So erm a 'colourful' character indeed! (And its also seemed he had taken a lawnmower to his hair)
Anyway...on to DC, after Sunil finally got his lazy ass out of bed, we headed downtown, to watch thefooty n look around. After walking a lot and all to no success in ridiculous heat, we gave up on the footy and went to capital hill! We had lunch and much needed liquid before we went to the Whitehouse...not that u can really get close. In the evening we decided to get a few drinks in and watch the debate and i Swear if they vote McCain there is something seriously wrong with this country!! Anyways off to shop today...xxx

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on October 16, 2008 from Washington, United States
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Foggy Bottom

Washington, United States

After a day of doing nothing apart from shop (or play pool in a bar for an hour, Sunil will tell u he won every game but its not true) and drink in the basement we decided to go and do some sightseeing! So we managed to the leave the hostel before midday for once and decided to go to the natural history museum, which I have to say was pretty disappointing even the one in Liverpool is better! We then ambled to the Washington monument...although to be honest I'm stillno wiser as to what this represents because all the tickets for the day had gone. So we walked round a lake to the Jeffereson Memorial which was pretty impressive, and then on to the Lincoln memorial via a Roosevelt memorial, a WWII memorial and the reflection pool (which only made sense when we got to the top of the stairs at the Lincoln memorial). The Lincoln memorial was once again pretty impressive, the two are definately the best we've seen since we have been here. We also decided to visit the Einstein monument, which apparantly if you rub his nose then you get get more intelligent...so given the majority of Americans need for this you can imagine how it was...but the way they climbed all over the monument seemed if anything disrespectful. We then headed upto Foggy Bottom, for no other reason than it was a place called foggy bottom! So its our last full day here today (which we will spend watching footy) and then tomorrow its off to Chicago on an incredibly long train ride. So I'll update you guys from there xx

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on October 18, 2008 from Washington, United States
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The Rabbi who was all too familiar!

Washington, United States

So for our last day in Washington we decided we would go watch the game where we were joined by a guy from Barnsley AKA the Rabbi...this due tohis liking for falsely adding random titles to his application for anything! So we spent the day watching footy in an Irish bar, where it dawned on me that this guy was suspiciously like our Mike! Like a clone or something! So setting this aside, we befriended a few american Liverpool supporters (Josh and Aaron) before going to the Zoo which was fun...although most animals (apart from Ken and Sunil) were sleeping! So we came home and I decided to relax whereas Sunil and Ken went back out with the american guys and ended up in a different state...as for what else went on god only knows!! So now we have survived the lonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg train journey (18 hours) and were met off the train by katerina and andrea, and have just been for lunch with Chrystalo, George, Boyana and Admir...if feels good to be in my second home. So for the next period it might be Sunil blogging not me...so add a pinch of salt to whatever is said (about me at least)! xx

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on October 20, 2008 from Washington, United States
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Chicago thus far

Chicago, United States

Heya, this is Sunil in Chicago. I've been badgered into writing a blog, just so you know we're alive and well. Well, i'm alive and well at least, Liz has been ill, drunk and scared so far, but we'll come onto that. I'm not quite sure when the last post was, but we got to Chicago on Monday after an immense 18 hour train journey, which i thought was great mainly due to sleeping for 12 hours. Liz didnt enjoy it so much and suffered from leg cramp (a common complaint ive come to find).
Anyway we didnt do a great deal apart from get fed and watered amazingly (thanks Chrystalo, Katerina and George) until Thursday which was Chrystalo's birthday. Liz proceeded to get drunk in true British fashion, mainly due to playing 'Never have i ever..' and SOMEONE having to drink a hell of a lot more than anyone else, anyhoo, Liz ended up asleep on the floor refusing to sleep in the airbed.
Not to worry, i managed to drag her onto the airbed in the end (so now i'm complaining of back cramps as a result)
Anyway on Friday, Andrea, myself and a hungover Liz went to one of the best haunted houses in the USA. The scene was perfectly set as we went late at night in the middle of a huge thunderstorm. The pessimist in me might say we paid to get completely soaked while queueing for two hours and get scared shitless, but i actually found it hilarious. Mainly due to every zombie, monster and demon in the house jumping out and attacking Liz while she hid behind my back for the whole thing. This caused her to go white as a sheet, and she's now refuses to ever go to a haunted house again.
Tonight i've been informed we're going to a 'hookah' bar (assuming it's spelt like that and not 'hooker'), and in the morning going to watch Liverpool do one on the Chelsea scum, so woohoo!!
Anyway, i'm not sure that Liz will let me write the blog again, so bye for now. Hope it's raining back home and everyone is alright.
Sunil

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on October 25, 2008 from Chicago, United States
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A catch up from the last few weeks!!

Chicago, United States

Ok so admittedly I havent used this thing like at all since I arrived in Chicago...and I probably had the most time and free internet so not really any excuses...so I'm not actually going to bother to make any. So Sunil filled you in on Chrystalo's Birthday celebrations and the haunted house (which WAS petrifying) so I'll just add the few other memorable things we did, and I guess there arent so many as we just chilled most of the time! I guess the night we went to Greektown followed by Madonna night at a club called Berlin was pretty memorable...at least to the others... I remember surprisingly little of it and woke up with a bump to the head and various other bruises! The morning after swearing never to drink again (this obviously has already been broken). I guess I struggle to remember so well the Chicago leg of the trip since I had done it all before so didnt really sightsee just had good fun with old friends. The one thing I have to mention is Obama. We went down to Grant Park where he was making his speech (right opposite my old university) at about 4.30pm after failing to get tickets, we just thought we would look around. It was crazy even four hours before he was due to appear with more people than I have ever seen in downtown Chicago. Unfortunately we couldnt get close as you can imagine the security was insane. So I watched the evenings events on TV with some friends a few beers and a takeaway before heading to a bar to toast to the new president elect! What a win for Obama...now lets (or the americans) overturn proposition 8!!

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on November 6, 2008 from Chicago, United States
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Ill in Kansas City

Kansas City, United States

We arrived here late last night...after a 7 hour train ride (not fun with a horrendous cold) to a freezing place but a nice hotel. With our first private room in almost five weeks and a bed of which comfort I have never felt before (or at least in a while) Kansas may be quiet but definately just what I need. A walk into the town uncovered a strange place with not much going on...famous for the Wizard of Oz and Hallmark cards it has the feeling of another Baltimore. But since we leave tomorrow its nice to have a good rest...it will be onward and upward to alberquerque (maybe?) with yet another 18 hour train ride!

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on November 7, 2008 from Kansas City, United States
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Albuquerque

Albuquerque, United States

We arrived in Albuquerque after yet another 18 hour train ride (although in truth this wasn't half as bad as it sounds, especially since my cold has started to disappear). On arrival here, it was pretty much as expected a (very) small desert town...and pretty quiet, although it is Sunday. Even the hotel we are staying in is kind of how I imagined...one where you have to go outside to get into your room...that being said it is pretty nice too. We found that downtown can be walked in 10 minutes, so tomorrow we will go searching for some more civilisation, as for now we are both pretty beat and need a good horizontal sleep!!

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on November 9, 2008 from Albuquerque, United States
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Old Town Albuquerque

Albuquerque, United States

So our full day in Albuquerque we decided to visit the old town which we heard was pretty nice. After walking a few Miles we came across the old tow shopping plaza, this consisted of a walgreens, a subway, a religious store, a 99cents store and a baskin robbins! Needless to say we were a little disappointed...so Sunil headed to the aquarium while I tried to find a new bag after I broke my other on the way here! While I was sitting on the bench waiting for his return I could see only a rock and feather store, a cigar store, a rug store and a moccasin store...I tried to hold my excitement until Sunil returned!! I was totally unprepared for what there was in store for us....there was literally strange little shop after strange little shop!! Like a whole hidden world. It actually turned out to be a really nice area and a lot of fun to look around, which we spent a few hours doing before we went for a mexican! Anyways...off to Flagstaff today so Ill write from there!!

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on November 11, 2008 from Albuquerque, United States
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Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon

Flagstaff, United States

After leaving Albuquerque, we made our way to Flagstaff a little college town in Arizona only an hour and a half out of the Grand Canyon. Its a quiet little town but not without it's charm, and with plenty of bars we could have no complaints! We spent the first day here exploring the whole of Flagstaff, which didnt appear to be that big until we found the route 66 side. Then in the evening we went for a Thai meal with a guy called Pete we met (from somewhere outside Birmingham) and in the process got into trouble with the Sheriff for Jaywalking - although he let us off, which is a good job because the fine is $163 each!! We spent the night just chilling in the hostel after dinner, knowing we had an early start for the Grand Canyon! So the Grand Canyon - it was amazing!! We drove up with hostel and then went through to our first stop to see the hostel for the first time - and since we were on the south rim and I had only previously seen it from the north rim it really was a whole different experience. After a small hike we moved on to our next point to eat lunch and like a school trip learn about the Canyon!! After this we moved again to where the hike was going to be from. Me and Peter decided we would hike only halfway to oo aa Point to make sure we could get back up (imagine how steep in the grand Canyon!) but in the end decided to go all the way down to Cedar point. Something I most definitely regretted on the way back up...I thought I was never getting out of! After we finally reached the top we went round to the desert view point to watch the sun set over the Canyon which again was incredible!! And last night...I was so tired as soon as I sat on the bed I was out like a light! Anyways off to Phoenix in a few hours...

permalink written by  Ruck2905 on November 13, 2008 from Flagstaff, United States
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